Eat Laugh Celebrate¹

Woah, there are so many people! All the tourists came here for the festival!

(I’m sure they all came here just to attend the event… I’m so glad we didn’t have to cancel it.)

Hm?

Excuse me, can I have three of the special syrup baby castellas?

Of course, I’ll get it to you s⁠—

I’ll take five!

O-Of course!

Woah, they’re so good! This syrup is amazing! I should get some to take home! I’ll take ten more, please!

…Uh… Sure thing…!

They’re really crowding around…

Yeah, it’s been like that since the festival started.

Oh, Nanaki-kun and Kiroku-kun! Good work on everything!

…You…too…

So, uh, Chief. We’re pretty free right now, so if it’s okay…

We wanted to help out at Kurama-kun’s stand. I’m sure the guests are gonna get sick of waiting eventually.

…Is that gonna affect his score?

…We’ll…do our…best.

Huh?!

(They’re offering to help on their own accord…)

…Of course, it’s fine! If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask me! Let’s do this!

Thanks for the help, you two! The guests seemed really happy! Right, Ushio-kun?

Well, yeah, I guess we got it done faster than if I did it by myself. But that’s not that surprising, so…

…Thanks for the help. Take some baby castellas.

…He…thanked us…

Hope this doesn’t mean that the rain’s gonna start coming down again… Thanks.

*munch, munch…* Hm?!

They’re good…

…Hmph.

As soon as you start eating it, the mellow flavor of the syrup spreads an aroma all throughout your mouth and transports you right to a great grassy plain…

And the gentle sweetness of the sponge cake appears right beside you, like flowers dotting a pure dreamscape…

They both perfectly complement each other and join in beautiful harmony… The magnificent combination of salty and sweet that brings about feelings of nostalgia…!

What’s happening to me…? It’s like a Jim Hendrix² guitar solo is playing in my brain as I eat it…

Wow! You’re really good at reviewing food, Nanaki-kun!

Ah, well, it was so good that I…

*munch, munch…*

(Kiroku-kun’s really intensely eating them… He’s so cute!)

Oh, Ushio-kun.

What?

The ladies who got you the equipment for making the castellas said good things about you. Alhough they did say that you should’ve let them know if you had all of the syrup with you the entire time, instead of telling them you forgot it.

They also said they’ve never had something so good and thanked you for it!

…I just did what I had to.

(He says that, but his cheeks are a little red. He must be embarrassed.)

Everyone did incredibly well with all of the festival work. The fireworks show was amazing, and both the tourists and the locals were very happy with it. They all really enjoyed it!

How was the music?

It was great! Everyone of all ages liked it a lot more than what they used to play for the show!

Really?!

Really. They already uploaded a video of it. The performance that went along with it was fantastic too, and the video’s getting a lot of views.

That’s awesome!

Ah, uh… I’m glad that my hard work paid off.

And Kiroku-kun, your lantern’s really popular with people. They keep talking about how the eeriness of it is very charming and cute.

…Huh…?

Lots of people are taking pictures in front of it and uploading them to social media.

R… Really…? But it’s…not…finished…

That’s not as bad of a thing as you think it is.

……

So many people were able to attend since the rain cleared, and the management team are happy with the results too. Everyone’s having so much fun… I… I’m really…

You’re a real crybaby for an adult.

S-Sorry. I think the sea breeze got in my eyes.

(In the end, everyone’s hard work was able to come to fruition thanks to one person…)

Heyyooooo! Future winner of Best Director at the Olivers³ comin’ through!

Hello, everyone.

Akuta-kun, Muneuji-kun, you both did a great job!

Maaan, this takoyaki’s so friggin’ good! And the okonomiyaki’s perfectly cooked, and the oden’s crazy flavorful! Food stalls rock!

Dude, Mr. Saku-chan said that we’re gonna go out for dinner after this. Maybe you shouldn’t have bought so much…

Broooo, I knew that. I got all this for free when I was walkin’ past the stands!

You probably looked like an abandoned puppy begging for scraps of food.

Yeah… Looking at Isotake…makes you wanna…give him food…

We didn’t want to refuse their generosity. Although I did tell him to leave the food for later instead of eating it now.

It looks like he couldn’t help himself.

It’s all good! My tummy size is infinite! I’ve only filled up 10% of it so far!

Good evening, everyone. We should head to the restaurant soon. It is the same hishio-don restaurant that we ate at on our first day here.

Since it’s our last night in Shodoshima, let’s all eat there together this time.

Hi-shi-o! Hi-shi-o!

……

*nod*

So everyone agrees?

…I think…so.

……

……

…Are you…gonna be…okay?

…Are you…gonna…fi⁠—

Whazzat? You’re gonna give me half of your hishio-don, Kiroku? Really? AWESOME! Thankya!

Ah…?! No⁠—

Woah, you’re gonna give me your miso soup too? Kiroku, you’re the best! Thank you, dude!

…I didn’t…sa⁠—

(I don’t think they’re understanding each other…)

Well, let’s go, everyone!

You…launched the egg?!

Yeah! It went up like BANG!

Hm? What was that?

W-We’re just talking about a movie.

Keep your voice down.

We decided on that plan after consulting the egg.

It can communicate? I didn’t even think it was alive.

I wouldn’t say that it had any biological reactions, but I could sense some sort of will from it.

Maybe it’s an alien communication device. And maybe they use a radio controller or something to operate it!

So where is it now?

We searched the mountain, but we couldn’t find it.

I assume it exploded into pieces.

Man… Seriously?

Nah, it wasn’t that weak! You gotta set your eggspectations higher!

We’ll meet it again someday. I dunno why, but I really think we will.

That’s some crazy baseless confidence… But whatever. Don’t tell Kinugawa-kun about any of this.

He seemed to really care about the egg. He’d probably get upset if we told him it exploded.

I understand. I’ll tell him it returned to the ocean on its own.